Orot - Articles

Bridging the Kabbalistic Gap Nefesh HaTzimtzum by Avinoam Fraenkel Vol. 1: Rabbi Chaim Volozhin’s Nefesh HaChaim with Translation and Commentary Volume 2: Understanding Nefesh HaChaim through the Key Concept of Tzimtzum and Related Writings (Jerusalem: Urim, 2015) Reviewed by Bezalel Naor Recently there has been a spate of English translations of the classic of Mitnagdic […]

Four Liberating Strategies By Bezalel Naor In the non-Jewish world, the second of the Five Books of Moses is referred to as “Exodus.” Scholars tell us that this name derived once upon a time from Jewish sages; the Hebrew “Yetsi’at Mitsrayim” was translated into Greek: Exodus. The medieval Spanish commentator Nahmanides does in fact refer […]

Thoughts on Rav Kook’s 80th Yahrzeit, 3 Ellul 5775/August 17-18, 2015: Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (1865-1935) served as the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Erets Israel. He was a preeminent Talmudist and Halachist, as well as mystic and poet. Revered as the seer of the rebirth of Israel in its land, Rav Kook had a […]

Israel’s Reaffirmation of Vows If one reads the narrative of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai purely through the Biblical lens, unaided by Rabbinic commentary, the acceptance of the Torah on the part of Israel appears to be totally volitional. The shorter version of Israel’s formal acceptance reads: “The entire people responded together […]

In 1917, Franz Kafka (1883-1924), a surrealist writer living in Prague, published in Martin Buber’s Zionist journal, Der Jude, a short story entitled “Jackals and Arabs.” The plot of the story is rather simple; the meaning—like that of most of Kafka’s works—continues to mystify readers to this day. A European gentleman camped in the desert […]

About Orot

Orot, Inc. was founded in 1990 by Rabbi Bezalel Naor to disseminate the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (1865-1935), first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Erets Israel. Rav Kook is considered one of the greatest Jewish thinkers and mystics of all time.

About Orot

Orot, Inc. was founded in 1990 by Rabbi Bezalel Naor to disseminate the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (1865-1935), first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Erets Israel. Rav Kook is considered one of the greatest Jewish thinkers and mystics of all time.